Man killed in Stoutsville house fire

STOUTSVILLE - The girlfriend of a man who died in house fire Monday around 11 p.m. told the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office she thinks he was smoking while on oxygen.

Michael J. Smallwood, 66, of 11880 Wyandotte Road SW, died in the fire.

His girlfriend, Charlotte Downs, said Smallwood had smoked while on oxygen before, a sheriff's report said. She said several days before his death, Smallwood started a fire that they were able to put out. However, Smallwood was taken to Berger General Hospital in Circleville after that incident.

Deputy Dustin Beavers said he arrived on scene Monday to find heavy smoke coming from the house with multiple fire crews working to put it out.

Downs told Beavers that she went into the bathroom while Smallwood stayed in the bedroom. While in the bathroom she heard Smallwood scream for help. Upon exiting the bathroom, she saw flames all around his face. Downs said she could not put out the flames and ran outside for help.

Downs was taken to Berger to get her breathing check out, the sheriff's report said.

The state fire marshal was notified and the detective bureau of the sheriff's office took over the scene.

The fire was the second fatal fire in the county in two days. Early Saturday morning, Carl R. Fauble, 64, died in a fire at 603 McKinley Ave. in Lancaster.